Water

First Creation of the Universe

I
n the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Honorable Madam Ajeet Cour,
Respectable Delegates of Foundation of SAARC Writers & Literature,
Distinguished Guests and Praiseworthy Participants,
Asslam o Alekum … Namste … Sat Sri Akaal … Good Evening
I am pleased to present my paper on water which is not only the beginning of the Universe and basic requirement of earth but also the First Creation. Water is a gift from Allah … We all are not only created from water but also we need water to survive …. And the water comes only from Allah, God or Bhagwan …
Allah says in Sura Al-Anbiya ayah 30 that: Have not those who disbelieve that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united piece and then we parted them? And we have made every living thing from water. Will they not then believe?
The Quranic account of the forming of the Cosmos places great emphasis on water, as demonstrated in other ayah in the preceding Sura which on the one hand lists heaven, earth, the moon, the sun, night, day etc. as natural factors in the creation of the universe and, on the other, speaks of a single element that infuses life into the universe: water. The Qur'an immediately asserts, however, that water fills the entire inanimate universe with life: "He is the one who created Heaven and Earth in six days. His Throne rises over the water". For certain commentators, this means in effect that water was the origin for both heaven and earth and that Allah drew from it the natural elements as well as all living creatures. Water is even present in the rocks and stones. Sura The Al-Baqarah, ayah 73 and 74 says: "...for there are some stones which rivers gush out of and there are others which water comes forth from when they split open, and there are still others which collapse out of awe for God".
The Quran also teaches In Sura Al-Nur, Ayah 45 that "God has created every animal out of water; some of them walk on their belly, while others walk on two legs and still others walk on four. God creates anything He wishes; God is Able (to do) everything."
In Sura Al-Rum, Allah told us that: "We have sent down blessed water from the sky and we grow gardens with it as well as grain to be harvested and soaring palms which have compact clusters as sustenance for worshippers. We have revived a dead countryside with it; thus will your reappearance be".
The Vedas praise water as the source of everything in the universe. It is clearly mentioned in Mahan Arayana Upanishad that the whole universe is made up of water.
Bible also has strong and numerous evidences that water is a reward of God for humanity. There are more than 107 verses in which Allah described importance of the water.
According to a narrator of Hadees, Ibn-e-Hibban … Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa Sallallahu Alayhi wa-aalhi wa-sallam said that the first creation is water and Allah created everything from it.
It is also proved that water has played a vital role in various civilizations which historically flourished around rivers and major waterways; Mesopotamia, the so-called cradle of civilization, was situated between the major rivers Tigris and Euphrates; the ancient society of the Egyptians depended entirely upon the Nile. Large metropolises like Rotterdam, London, Montreal, Paris, New York City, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Tokyo, Chicago, and Hong Kong owe their success in part to their easy accessibility via water and the resultant expansion of trade. Islands with safe water ports, like Singapore, have flourished for the same reason.
Moreover water is taken as a role model in traditional and popular philosophy. The Ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles held that water is one of the four classical elements along with fire, earth and air, and was regarded as the basic substance of universe. The classical element of water was also one of the five elements in traditional Chinese philosophy, along with earth, fire, wood, and metal.
Dear Delegates,
Please let me mention here some kinds of water which has religious and angelic significance amongst different faiths.
First is AAB-E-ZAMZAM which considered divine water. All traditions agree that Allah created the Zamzam well to provide Hajira, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim and her baby Prophet Ismail with water in the hot, dry valley they were in, around the year 2000 BC.
The miracle water of Zamzam is still flowing till day. Hazrat Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi wa-aalhi wa-sallam said: "The best water on the face of the earth is the water of Zamzam; it is a kind of food and a healing from sickness."
Scientists have found certain peculiarities that make the water healthier, like a higher level of calcium. A Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto used the technology named NANO, and researched a lot on Zamzam water. He found out that if one drop of Zamzam mixes in 1000 drops of regular water, it will get the same quality like Zamzam. He said the quality and purity of Zamzam water has, will not be find anywhere else in the water on this earth.
Dear Friends,
The second significant water is The Great Flood Water which still exists on the earth. Many researchers believe that the oceans are actually remaining water of Noah’s flood which is best known through the biblical and Quranic accounts, the foundational myths of the Quiché and Mayas, through Deucalion in Greek mythology, the Utnapishtim in Epic of Gilgamesh or the Hindu puranic story of Manu which has some very strong parallels with the story of Noah.
Water in Hinduism has a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. To Hindus all waters are sacred, especially rivers, Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. Holy places and Funeral Grounds are usually located on the banks of rivers, coasts, seashores and mountains.
The Ganges River is the most important of the sacred rivers. Its waters GANGAJAL are used in puja (worship) and if possible a sip is given to the dying. No ceremony, from birth to death, is complete and perfect without Gangajal. According to Maharishi Vedvyas the only way to fight the malefic effects of the Kalyuga, the holy water of Ganga should be used in all the religious ceremonies.
Water does however feature in Sikh baptism, marriages and Buddhist funerals. A term is also used as Holy water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.
Modern science affirms clearly religion and philosophy and states that water is the basic component of life. it is proven by scientific analysis’s showing the body of a human adult from the age of 15 years and upwards contains approximately 71 % of water as for the child his body contains 93 % of water, which indicates 80 % of water runs through the human body and the remainder is blood, and as much as 90 % water is found in animals and plants.
Respectable Delegates,
Basically, Water is a chemical substance with the H2O formula. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Under nomenclature used to name chemical compounds, Dihydrogen monoxide is the scientific name for water, though it is almost never used.
Water covers 70.9% of the Earth's surface. 96.5% of the planet's water is found in oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds and precipitation. Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is fresh water, and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater, 0.003% is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.
Safe drinking water is essential to all life forms but more than one billion people still lack access to safe water. Observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability.
At this time, Earth's approximate water volume is 1,338 million Cubic meter and 70% of the fresh water used by humans goes to agriculture because this is a key component to generate nourishment. To produce food for the 7 billion people of the planet requires the water that would fill a canal ten meters deep, 100 meters wide and 7.1 million kilometers long and that's enough to circle the globe 180 times.
The second important consumer of water is human body but It’s not clear how much water intake is needed by healthy people, though most advocates agree that approximately 2 liters of water daily is the minimum to maintain proper hydration.
Honorable Delegates,
Water plays an important role in the world economy and this factor has introduced water politics. This water politics is also on extreme between Pakistan and India now a days and the base of this conflict is Indus Water Treaty which took place 52 years ago between these neighbors.
Pakistan has an estimated 1.927422 Million acres of wetlands that cover 9.7% of the total surface area of the country. Pakistan has more than 80 Rivers and one of the largest canal irrigation systems in the world. There are 3 large and 85 small dams, 19 barrages, 12 inter link canals, 45 canals and 0.7 million tube wells to meet the commercial, domestic and irrigational needs. Similarly Pakistan is home to 32 big and more than 200 small natural and man made lakes and reservoirs.
But apart from these facts and figures, Pakistan is one of the world’s most arid countries. It ranks 127 in 141 countries with a water availability of 0.23 thousand cubic meters per capita. Pakistan’s economic and social well being is built on this water system despite the scant average annual rainfall of just 240 millimeters. Over the years, Pakistan has harnessed the Indus River to bring 35.7 million acres under irrigation to cultivate land in otherwise desert conditions.
Pakistan is running out of water so fast that the shortage will strangulate all water-based economic activity by 2015, a Pakistani think tank says. In opinion of Islamabad based Center for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan has gone from a “water scarce” country to a “water-stressed” country, worse than Ethiopia. In 10 years time, it will become a water-famine country.
According to the World Bank data, Pakistan only stores 30 days of river water, India stores 120 days, while the Colorado River system in the U.S. has storage capacity of up to 900 days of water usage.
Statistics indicates that 96% water is being used for agricultural purposes, leaving 2% for domestic and another 2% for industrial use. By far most water is used for irrigated agriculture. The sector contributes about 25% of the Pakistan's GNP with a total irrigated area of 181,000 Sq Kilometers.
But it is an ugly truth that this agriculture based country has not its own water resources and its all water comes from India. In 1947, when Punjab was divided between the two countries, many of the canal head-works remained with India. The division of Punjab thus created major problems for irrigation in Pakistan. It was finally in Ayub Khan's regime that an agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in September 1960 which is known as the Indus Water Treaty.
This treaty divided the use of rivers and canals between the two countries. Pakistan obtained exclusive rights for the three western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. And India retained rights to the three eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
On October 10, 2008, India inaugurated Baglihar hydro-electric dam on the Chenab River, one of the western rivers given to Pakistan in the IWT. India is currently building a dam and a hydroelectric water project on River Indus at Nimzoo Bagin. Pakistan alleges the projects are a violation of the Indus Waters Treaty but India holds that it is committed to the treaty.
Dear Friends,
Despite from Pak India claims, in fact the water is Life …. And its true, when you save water, you save life and I hope that with good decisions we are able to save our future which lies behind water. Violations and problems can be solved and drastic situations can be controlled … but with a soft touch. I also would like to conclude my paper with lively strokes. Let’s see that what some poets have said about this basic substance of our life …
Please see this desire …
پانی دِیاں چّھلاں ہوون ، توں ہوویں تے مَیں ہوواں
پیار دِیاں گلاں ہوون ، توں ہوویں تے مَیں ہوواں
And this cry
آ کر لے جائے میری آنکھ کا پانی مجھ سے
کیوں حسد کرتی ہے دریا کی روانی مجھ سے
صرف اِک شخص کے غم میں مجھے برباد نہ کر
روز روتے ہوئے کہتی ہے جوانی مجھ سے
May Allah Bless You All …
Thank you so much …!!!
This research paper was presented in 3 day SAARC Festival of Literature organized by Foundation of SAARC Writers & Literature [FOSWAL] the apex body of SAARC with collaboration of Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Arpana Fine Arts held on March 16 to 18, 2012 at Hotel Clark Avadh, Lucknow, India.